Holocaust Literature

The Holocaust. It's hard to imagine so much suffering, and it's even harder to imagine why it happened. Maybe that's why writers and filmmakers have been fascinated by it ever since it went down. What went so horribly wrong in Germany in the 1930s? What was it like for the people who were there? And is there anything we can learn from it?

There are lots of ways to try to answer these questions, and this course will do it through books and films, zeroing in on what the Holocaust meant for the people who lived through it. We'll look at everything from poetry to survivor testimonies to Hollywood blockbusters, all from a personal perspective. The goal? To start to answer some of the Big Questions: not only what happened, but why and how, and most importantly, what it might mean for you.

Course Breakdown

Unit 1. A Very Brief History of the Holocaust

The Holocaust conjures up a boatload of feelings and images, and
in this unit, we're going to ground those feelings and images in
concrete information and facts about this dreadful time in history.
Before we dive into the literature and film of the Holocaust, we'll take
a look at the context surrounding it—which, of course, will help you out
down the road.

Unit 2. Survivor Memoirs

In this unit, we'll be looking at survivor memoirs: accounts of the Holocaust written by people who lived in the camps. We'll be tackling Night, Survival in Auschwitz,Maus, and The Sunflower. (Full disclosure: Maus wasn't
written by a survivor, but the author based it on conversations he had
with his [very cranky] father, who did live through the Holocaust.)

Unit 3. Holocaust Fiction

This unit is all about historical fiction, and one of the main questions we'll ask is whether there should even be such a thing as Holocaust fiction. To help us answer this question, we're going to tackle four very different novels about the Holocaust: Cynthia Ozick's The Shawl, Bernhard Schlink's The Reader, Jane Yolen's Briar Rose, and Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything Is Illuminated.

Unit 4. Holocaust Film

Directors and screenwriters are just as interested as fiction writers
in the stories—both heroic and tragic—of the Holocaust. In this unit, we're going to watch (and analyze, duh) three movies about the Holocaust: Everything Is Illuminated, Schindler's List, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 2: Onwards into the Night

Eliezer and his father have arrived at Auschwitz, he's been separated from his mother and sisters, and his faith in God (which was incredibly important to him in Sighet) is pretty much in shambles.

Birkenau in August 2006. This is what Eliezer and his family would have seen as their train pulled in. (Source)

And Wiesel is just getting warmed up.

Life in the camp is only going to get worse, as Eliezer watches the camp break his father's spirit and witnesses horrors that were unimaginable to him before Auschwitz.

While you read, keep your eye out for some of the historical details that you picked up in Unit 1. You're an expert on Auschwitz, but Night will add to it—not only by giving you more detail, but by letting you see the camp through Eliezer's eyes. Literature helps us understand what history meant to the people living it.

So what did the Holocaust mean for Eliezer and for his family?

Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 2.2: Night, Chapters 4-6

In the next three chapters of Night, you'll get a sneak peek at life in Auschwitz firsthand. Before you get started, don't forget to think about the question you chose yesterday (religion, family, or identity). As you read, take notes and mark passages as you read that relate to that theme.

After you've finished, head on over to the Shmoop summary for chapters 4-6, just to make sure we're all on the same page. Heh.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 2.2b: Brainstorming Night

By this point, you have boatloads of material to work with when it comes back to your theme. So it's time for another brainstorming session. Anything goes: important passages, character notes, or even questions you'd like to think more about.

Oh, and don't feel trapped in chapters 4-6. If you need to use stuff from the first part of the novel (and it might be useful, since we're asking you about how things are changing), go right ahead.

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